Thing-A-Mah-Bobs by Cydnie T. '12

I discovered it was rather impossible to make any logical connection between all the things I wanted to share about the last couple weeks.

I gave up. Which means you get no logic, sorry. Just think of this post as a meat tray at a party. You grab a couple slices of each kind, a few chunks of cheese, and a handful of crackers and call it a day.

Firstly, I’ve been attacking people at grocery stores and farmer’s markets around the island to get their opinions on what it means to them to buy locally. As with any survey, some people are way more receptive than others at sitting for more than 2 minutes. But those who could stand to talk to me for an entire 5 minutes usually had pretty strong opinions about the whole concept of supporting local businesses, artists, and farmers. My all-time favorite answers were:

[Q: What is your race?]

“I guess I’m Caucasian. I wish I could check African American too. Ya’ know, I had a dream once that my granddad was African American and I was like whoa that’s cool! But it was just a dream. So I guess I’ll check Caucasian”

[Q: To you, what factors constitute a ‘high quality’ shopping experience?]

“All; Free Buds”

[Q: What education level have you achieved?]

“I read a lot” (also no checked answer)

[Q: What factors would increase the likelihood of you buying local more often?]

“Becoming a better cook”

[Q: Why do you or don’t you feel a personal obligation to ‘buy local’?]

“Whatever — anywhere the wind blows is cool”

In other news: one of the preferred meats on this island is spam — restaurants have as many entrees with spam as Boston has beef (which if you haven’t been before, there is lots of burgers around). I haven’t tried any yet but I’ll be sure to get around to it before I leave.

The local dishes here are interesting. The ingredients are things that aren’t unusual they just make very different combinations. One of the strangest I’ve had so far has been Loco Moco. Besides the name sounding really fun, the dish is made of two beef patties over jasmine rice with two over-hard eggs on top and a side of macaroni salad. That is definitely a taste I’ve never had before but I really liked it!

(Lets temporarily disregard the fact that my family calls me the human garbage disposal due to the iron-coated nature of my stomach.)

A couple weekends ago, I took a morning bus up the countryside to the next big town on the island, Waimea. The ride is a little over an hour and scaled around the beautiful Mauna Kea Mountain. I’ll tell you this, there is no greater view than to look out at miles and miles of clear, blue ocean from the side of a mountain.

When I arrived, I wandered around the town center (which is basically a couple shopping centers) to see what I could get into for the day. I first found this cool, miniature museum exhibit that told the story of the Hawaiian Cowboy.

Next I went to my favorite spot for the summer, the friendly neighborhood Starbucks. I was in for a special treat this time though. A random collection of musicians came together at the table outside next to me and put on a concert for those walking by.

To take up more of my day, I decided to ride the shuttle around town. Only problem was, the driver was not as inclined to give me the grand tour so I got dropped off at the end of the line. Much to my surprise, that end was about 7 odd miles from were we started O_o.

I did, however learn a few very important lessons on this lovely walk back to the town center.

1. Do NOT stare at a cow in the eyes! And especially don’t look directly at their calves
2. Never walk up to a duck trying to cross the street, it will scare him, and he will fly across the highway without looking :/
3. Distances are much farther than they appear when driving by.

To reward my successful hike, I got my self a fudge sundae from Dixie Queen :D

Well, that’s all for now. Hope you could keep up…

This is Cyd, signing off!

(P.S. No ducks were harmed in the making of this blog. All the cars stopped)